The flight attendant may be there “primarily for your safety”, but that hasn’t stopped them being included in a variety of sources to satisfy male fetishes. As early as the 30’s, the stewardess was used to market airline tickets.

Back when women’s rights were non-existent, the stewardess was not allowed to be married, had to undergo regular grooming inspections and underwear checks.

Back then, employment could be terminated for things like “a gummy smile”.

In the 70’s, times started to change, mostly thanks to the efforts of the Stewardesses for Women’s Rights – the first all-female national organization for flight attendants.

Before these changes, airlines would regularly advertise their airline by “pimping” their female flight crews. Slogans like “We Really Move Our Tails for You” and “I’m Carol, Fly Me” were considered perfectly acceptable ways to sell tickets.

In this article, we’ll take a look back at some of the ways flight attendants were portrayed in advertising for airlines, along with some sex scandals.1930’s

In this 1930’s video (with recently added narration), the airlines knew no shame in using their female employees. It took till 1972 for this to change.

1960’s

In the 60’s, anything was still possible. Hugh Hefner filled his personal DC-9 with a weekly fresh lineup of eager bunnies, and the press loved it. There was no shame in showing off his party plane, or reporting on the kind of fun he had on board.

1970’s

The start of this graduation ceremony looks more like the opening scene of Miss Universe.

1980’s

By the 80’s, the flight attendant was back to clean cut and totally sweet – the mini skirt was out, and the professional smile was in.

2000’s

By the new millennium, competition was stiff – and the Internet made it even easier for passengers to shop around. People expected a bit more shock value from their content, so this made it perfectly acceptable to show off your good looking crew (again).

Pushing the envelope

Times have changed – it is once again considered totally normal for the flight attendant to show up in Playboy. The ladies pictured above contacted Playboy for a photo shoot after they were fired by their airline as part of a reorganization.